Driving devices for sewing and other machines



b- 1959 J. PLATT 2,874,583 DRIVING DEVICES FOR SEWING AND OTHER MACHINESFiled Nov. 2a; 1955 I8 I H y l 33 m g 3m 1N VEN To ohn P/ah ATTORNEYVIUTJVESS United States Patent DRIVING DEVICES FOR SEWING AND OTHERMACHINES John Platt, Dalmuir, Glasgow, Scotland, assignor to The SingerManufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N. J., a corporation of New JerseyApplication November 28, 1955, Serial No. 549,443

'Claims priority, application Great Britain November 7, 1955 4 Claims.(Cl. 74-231) This invention relates to improved driving means forstarting, accelerating, driving, decelerating and stopping, in perfectsynchronism, two separate mechanisms of sewing or like machines.

7 The expired United States Patent No. 667,830, issued February 12,1901, indicates that it is old and well known to drive two parts of asewing machinein synchronism by means of a belt having clips designed toengage grooves appropriately formed in pulleys. In the past it has beencustomary to manufacture clip belts from one continuous linen cordhaving a sufiicient number of turns wound in side-by-side relationshipto form a fiat belt of .the desired width, the side-by-side relationshipof the turns being maintained by means of metallic clamps or clips ofthe type shown in Patent No. 667,830 supra. In'the past it has beencustomary to form the belt carried clips from steel or other form ofheavy metallic wire. However, it has been found that the weight g of themetallic clips carried by the belt creates such high inertia that thesewing or other machines driven by the types of drives heretofore usedcannot be started, accelerated, decelerated and stopped at the highestdesir able rate. Thus, the primary object of the present invention is toprovide, in a sewing machine or the like, a driving means which willpermit sewing or other machines to be started, accelerated, deceleratedand stopped at higher rates than has, heretofore, been practical.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved clip belt.

Still another object of the invention is to provide driving devices fora sewing or like machines having improved clip belts.

A further object of the invention is to provide an improved drivingmeans for sewing and the like machines, which will be less expensive toproduce than similar driving means heretofore used.

With the above and other objects in view, as will hereinafter appear,the invention comprises the devices, combinations, and arrangements ofparts hereinafter set forth and illustrated in the accompanying drawingsof a preferred embodiment of the invention, from which the severalfeatures of the invention and the advantages at-' tained thereby will bereadily understood by those skilled in the art.

In the drawings:

Fig. l is an elevational sectional view of a portion of a sewing machinewith a clip belt embodying the present invention,

Fig. 2 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 22 ofFig. 1, and

Fig. 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken on the line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Referring in more detail to the drawings, the portion of the sewingmachine shown in Fig. 1 comprises a conventional bed-plate 14 from whichrises the hollow standard 16 of a bracket-arm 17. A main or arm-shaft 18is rotatably iournaled in the bracket-arm 17, this shaft ice 18 beingdriven by means of a combination driving and hand wheel 19. A bed-shaft22 is rotatably supported below the bed-plate 14 in such a manner as tobe parallel to the arm-shaft 18.

A pulley 23 is suitably secured to and' driven by the arm-shaftrl8. Thepulley 23 drives a belt 24, and the belt 24 drives a pulley 26 securedto one end of the bed-shaft 22, the pulley 26 driving the bed-shaft 22in synchronism' with the arm-shaft 18. As shown in the drawings, thepulleys 23 and 26 are of substantially equal diameter and therefore thebed-shaft 22 will be driven at the same speed as the arm-shaft 18.However, it will be understood that differently sized pulleys may be employed thereby driving the bed-shaft at a greater or lesser speed thanthe arm-shaft.

In accordance with the present invention, the driving belt 24, used todrive the bed-shaft pulley 26 from the arm-shaft pulley 23, comprises anendless band preferably formed from one continuous linen cord whosesuccessive turns 27, 27, 27 are laid closely together in sideby-siderelationship, a sufiicient number of the turns 27 being used to providea belt having the width desired. However, if desired, the belt 24 may beformed from separate turns placed in side-by-side relationship. Theside-by-side turns 27, which constitute the complete belt, are heldtogether by means of a plurality of spaced nonmetallic plastic clips 28molded directly to the turns 27' in such a manner that the plastic bodyof the clips 28 enters all' of the interstices between the separateturns 27 and in the turns per se, these interstices being indicatedgenerally in Fig. 3 by the numerals 29. It will be appreciated that thisprovides a strong bond between the clips 28 and the turns 27. Ifdesired, the nonmetallic clips 28 may be formed from eitherthermosetting or thermoplastic materials, but preferably the nonmetallicclips 28 will be formed from a plastic having properties similar to theproperties ordinarily associated with the plastic commonly known asnylon and chemically known as a polyamide. Another plastic material,which may be used to form the clips 28, is known by the name ofAlkathene and chemically as polyethylene.

As best seen in Fig. 2, the clips 28, in outline, are substantially thesame shape as the capital letter D, thereby having a rounded top 31 anda squared base 32. The squared base 32 of the clips 28 enter grooves 33formed in the pulleys 23 and 26, the grooves 33 being equally spacedaround the circumference of the pulleys and each groove extendingwidthwise thereof. If desired, the pulleys 23 and 26 of the presentinvention may be formed from a comparatively soft and lightweightmaterial, as

for example, aluminum or magnesium.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I I claim hereinis:

1. A driving belt for a sewing or other machine formed from a pluralityof turns of cord of textile fiber laid in side-by-side relation, andproviding interstices between side-by-side turns, and a plurality ofspaced one-piece pulley engaging clips molded directly to embrace saidplurality of turns, each of said clips comprising integral top, bottomand side portions forming a complete onepiece band around theside-by-side turns, the upper and Patented Feb. 24, 1959" lower portionsof said clips being connected by integrally formed portions of saidone-piece clips which integrally formed portions extend through theinterstices between said side-by-side turns.

2. A driving belt for asewing or other machine formed from a pluralityof turns of cord of textile fiber laid in side-by-side relation, andproviding interstices therein, and a plurality of spaced one-piecepulley engaging clips molded directly to embrace said plurality of turnsof cord, each of said clips comprising integral top, bottom and sideportions forming a complete-one-piece band around the turns, the top andbottom portions of said clips being connected by integrally formedportions of said one-piece clips, which integrally formed portionsextend into the said interstices.

3. A driving belt for a sewing or other machine formed from a pluralityof turns of cord of textile fiber laid in side-by-side relation, andproviding interstices in the individual turns and also providinginterstices between side-by-side turns, and a plurality of spacedone-piece pulley engaging clips of a polyamide material molded directlyto embrace said plurality of turns of cord, each of said clipscomprising integral top, bottom and side portions forming a completeone-piece band around the turns, the upper top and bottom portions ofsaid clips being connected by integrally formed portions of saidone-piece clips which integrally formed portions extend through theinterstices between said side-by-side turns, and portions of said clipsintegral with the top,

bottom and side portions thereof entering the interstices in theindividual turns.

4. A driving mechanism for driving in perfect synchronism a pair ofshafts, said driving mechanism com 4 prising a first pulley secured toone of said shafts and having a plurality of widthwise extending groovesequally spaced around the circumference of said pulley, a second pulleysecured to the other of said shafts and said second :ulley having aplurality of widthwise extending grooves equally spaced around thecircumference of said second pulley, and a driving belt for drivinglyconnecting said two pulleys, said driving belt being formed from aplurality of turns of textile fiber laid in side-by-side relation, andproviding interstices between sideby-side turns, and a plurality ofequally spaced one-piece clips molded directly to embrace said pluralityof turns, and said clips being adapted to engage said widthwiseextending grooves formed on said first and second pulleys, and each ofsaid clips comprising integral top, bottom and side portions forming acomplete one-piece band around the side-by-side turns, and top andbottom portions of each of said clips being connected by integrallyformed portions of said one-piece clips which extend through theinterstices between said side-by-side turns, and each of said clipsbeing so constructed and arranged that the portions of each clip whichextend through the interstices between the side-by-side turns areintegral with the external portion of the clip which engages thewidthwise extending grooves of said pulleys.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS667,830 Steward Feb. 12, 1901 1,655,920 Roderwald Jan. 10, 19282,358,534 Perry Sept. 19, 1944 2,541,790 Sugden Feb. 13, 1951

